


"Don't Move."

by Rangergirl3



Series: Whumptober 2019 [12]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Dark!Lance, Gen, Keith (Voltron) Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 21:27:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21259907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rangergirl3/pseuds/Rangergirl3
Summary: Lance is taken over by Haggar, and Keith is the first Paladin he comes across.





	"Don't Move."

When the two of them stumbled across one of Haggar's abandoned laboratories, Lance had been the first one to go inside. 

"It'll be fine," he'd said, giving Keith an enthusiastic thumbs up before exiting the Blue Lion and vanishing . "She's gone, right? What could go wrong?"

The answer, as usual, was simple. 

_Everything_.

* * *

"There must have been a security failsafe," Allura's voice said over the comms. "His comms are off. There's no way to know what state he's in. Keith, you have to get him out of there, now."

"Yellow says he's not even answering Blue," Hunk said. "That's - that's really, _really_ bad. "

"-_uck_, okay, okay, if this is tech related," Pidge babbled, "-I can fix it from here. Maybe? I'm going to try -"

"-but if not," Coran said, "-maybe the Olkarion can -"

Keith did his best not to snarl at them all to be _quiet_, for _fuck's_ sake. This was a stealth rescue mission, after all.

Instead, he counted to ten before replying.

"I'm in the west side tunnel. Any sign of where he might be?" Keith asked. 

Then something went _click _in the tunnel behind him, and a voice that was at once both familiar and alien spoke from not four feet away.

_Looking for me?_

Keith spun around just in time to see a familiar face grinning at him. It was damn well terrifying, especially since Lance's gun was pointed directly at the Red Paladin's chest.

* * *

Pinpricks of purple light glinted in the half-dark.

_Don't move._

Keith remained perfectly still, but he had to know.

"Lance?"

The gun did not waver, but the mouth grinned like a demon jack-o-lantern's Halloween smile.

_Oh, him?_

Something that was _not_ _Lance_ laughed. It was damn eerie, especially when it used his voice to do it. It felt like something with thousands of tiny, sharp claws was trying to crawl its way up Keith's spine.

_Your friend isn't here anymore._

* * *

The Blue Paladin's words - from whatever was using his voice - must have carried well enough to be heard Keith's comms, because everyone back on the Castle went dead silent.

Keith wished they would start talking over each other again. With every word the thing said, it felt like something with thousands of tiny, sharp claws was trying to crawl its way up Keith's spine.

...Wait...

Allura had said that Lance's comms were off. 

That had been the first sign that something was wrong.

Initially, Keith had just assumed it was this thing's doing.

But...if it...wasn't....

That meant Lance had switched off his comms intentionally. 

Why would he do that?

Oh, **fuck**.

* * *

Sound.

Sustained sound.

That's what this thing used to infect someone.

It was a kind of lifeline for it, a way to take hold of a target and lock onto them, and Lance was always talking, to himself, to others, to Blue.

He must have realized it too late to save himself, but he'd managed to keep the infection contained by switching off his comms. 

It was only a temporary measure, though, because Haggar was smart. She'd figure out the frequency they were on soon enough.

* * *

That was why Lance wasn't talking to Blue, either.

Haggar didn't know how to fool the Lions. Not yet, anyway.

* * *

Without explanation, Keith deactivated his comms, and the thing that was _not Lance_ smiled even wider when he did so.

_You are a clever one,_ it said, almost conversationally. _Pity. Means I'll have to kill you._

Keith didn't answer it. He couldn't. Instead, he just charged forwards. 

**Author's Note:**

> Since it's literally the last day of Whumptober, I'm focusing on the whump! in the ficlets here. My happy ending head-canon for this one is that Keith and the others managed to kick Haggar out and get Lance back to safety. Lance got a lot of hugs, hot cocoa, and head pats from his friends afterwards, as it's never fun to have an evil witch playing puppet-master with your limbs.
> 
> Comments are loved!! It's literally comments and feedback and PMs from readers that help me get ideas/stay motivated when writer's block hits. It means so, so much to me when I hear back from readers - especially when you tell me a line or a moment (or more than one!) that really struck you. <3
> 
> I'm on Tumblr. Come say hi :-)


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